1. Technical Field
The invention relates to a racquetball racquet comprising a ball striking surface, a racquet head frame, and a racquet handle.
Certain properties of racquets are relevant to racquetball playing such as maneuverability and ball acceleration, as well as the vibration and damping behavior. Performance of conventional racquets is generally controlled via the materials and cross sections used in the racquet handle and in the racquet head. Various materials have been used in the past for the construction of such racquets in attempts to improve the maneuverability and ball acceleration as well as the vibration and damping behavior. Various materials have been used in the past for the construction of tennis racquets, in particular, to increase the vibration frequency (eigenfrequency) by choosing newer and lighter materials. An increase in the vibration frequency is intended to avoid undesired rebounding shocks resulting in excessive stresses on the player's arm and wrist, while obtaining enhanced maneuverability of the racquet through lower racket weight.
With racquetball racquets, conditions are, however, completely different than tennis racquets due to the different dimensions and hence the substantially lower weight of racquetball racquets. For racquetball racquets, a mere change in weight by utilizing lighter and optionally stiffer materials by no means necessarily results in an improved performance of the racquetball racquet.
An essential prerequisite in the construction of racquetball racquets having midsized and oversized impact surfaces resides in that even with different points of impact of the ball on the racquet head and, in particular, impact points which are offset from the longitudinal axis of the racquet, the racquet head provides a consistent return and high acceleration to the ball.
2. Prior Art
In U.S. Pat. Nos. Re. 34,067 and Re. 34,068, racquetball racquets are described, which, based on their geometric dimensions, overall and striking surface lengths, widths at weight ranges from 220 g to 270g, and respective mass distributions, yield frame stiffness intended to guarantee a desirable performance of the racquet. However, the racquets of U.S. Pat. Nos. Re. 34,067 and Re. 34,068 have relatively high weights, thus causing unfavorable vibrations in the player's wrist.